BlackCreek goes social

Baby-boomers may not be the largest demographic using Facebook (the biggest users are aged 35 to 54), but according to a 2009 report from Washington-based agency istrategylabs they are the fastest growing social media audience, which is the reason behind the online push from the BlackCreek Summer Music Festival.

Aimed at boomers, the 2011 summer music fiesta plans to bring melodic colour to Toronto with artists from a myriad of genres, including opera, jazz and country, from June to September at the Rexall Centre at York University. Artists performing include James Taylor, Lionel Ritchie and Michael McDonald.

BlackCreek Music Festival’s social media strategy was designed to reach music enthusiasts online – both ticket holders and those who are not able to attend, Kevin Albrecht, CEO, iSport Concerts Ltd. and the BlackCreek Limited Partnership tells MiC.

‘Knowing that going to a concert is social by nature, it was very natural to incorporate social media tools,’ says Albrecht. ‘We designed every aspect of the festival to have a social media component in it, knowing that the whole experience is just more fun when you’re with your friends.’

Those components include a live concert streaming of tenor Placido Damingo on June 4, which can be watched by purchasing 150 Facebook credits (which costs $14.99), a festival Facebook app enlisting ticket holders to rally their friends to earn discounts and merchandise, as well as a VIP stadium entrance set up for those who register with Facebook places when they arrive.

Primary promotional support will be online with ads on pages such as Yahoo! Music, MSN, Sympatico as well as websites that showcase content from select music genres, including pop, broadway and gospel.

‘It’s not really about setting up your site and spending dollars on traditional media trying to get an audience to come to your site,’ he said. ‘It’s about taking your content to where people traditionally find that content. There is that highway of habit on the internet. We have our core sites that we go to and we rarely go off of the highway. So you have to take your content to where people are looking for it.’